Most people start writing on day one of a new adventure, I'm starting a year after relocating to Bermuda. What can I say... I've been busy with the day job! Contrary to the belief of many close pals, I'm not in the Caribbean, but in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I'm a Brit in a far flung, little heard of corner of ye ol' British Empire but rather than this being a home from home, life as an expat couldn't be stranger than out here in the triangle...

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The rock is now just hours away from feeling the brunt of Hurricane Igor and boredom has well and truly set in. As this is my first hurricane, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I did expect a little more excitement but I guess it is still over 200 miles away yet so the white knuckle ride is to come.

At the moment, we are all just confined to our homes and there's a bit of a strong breeze out there. With all the shutters closed though, it feels a bit like a bunker. But then again I am a bit more sheltered than most, what with living in the 'city'. Just read on Twitter that over 3,650 homes have lost power so it's getting a little challenging for some of us already.

It's been a waiting game the whole week, with Stormpulse getting more hits in Bermuda than Facebook this week I'm sure. It's a pretty cool tracking device, you can see the various paths that the storm forecast to take and even turn the clouds on/off - nice touch.

At one stage, it was looking pretty hairy for us as it was potentially going to be a direct hit for Bermuda from a Category four hurricane but as of this morning it's been downgraded to Category one, so that's just 85mph winds, no problemo (apparently!).

There's been a run on batteries, flashlights, candles, radios, island-wide. I picked up AA, AAA, C and D batteries just to be on the safe side. Not quite sure I have anything to put the C batteries into but at least I'm prepared. Then I've also bought a whole range of canned goods, if it comes in a tin I've probably got it. In my research, I've stumbled across a whole host of no cook recipes to use my store cupboard contents in. Yum.

Yesterday it was just plain eerie on the island. The sky was white, the harbour looked like plate glass but was ominously bulging. We took the obligatory trip to the south shore to check out the storm surge. Considering this was 36 hours in advance it was pretty awesome to see.

Then it was off to the video store to pick up a few things to entertain myself. I settled for an eclectic mix of Mamma Mia (lighthearted musical fun), Abfab Series 1 (timeless comedy) and then The Ring (to really take me over the edge when the storm hits).

Front Street was like a ghost town with shopfronts boarded up ready.

The airport closed early evening and with that went the last chance to flee the island . Gulp!

2 comments:

Hurricanes are usually boring unless your roof comes off or a tree falls on your house and since you wouldn't want that to happen... you should really hope for boredom. Have a fully charged laptop to watch some DVDs when the power goes out and enjoy listening to the wind and rain.

The most exciting thing you will see out of your window is probably a few trees bending over one way and then a few hours later (if they eye goes over you) they will be bending the other way. You can't see much else because the visibility is so bad with all the rain. So the chances of spotting a tornado or something exciting are slim.

The most interesting bit after Hurricane Fabian was driving around the island to see what had happened. Dive shop had been washed completely away at the Southampton Princess, lots of roofs missing, Sonesta Hotel had massive holes in it, horseshoe bay was suddenly a different shape, Hog Penny's sign was 50 meteres further down Burnaby Street, traffic light lying in the middle of the street, trees down, more trees down, wall collapsed into the road, boats tipped over on the rocks, road near John Smith's Bay all ripped up, some south shore houses collapsed...

The worst part (apart from the people who tragicaly died on causeway obviously) was the electricity outages. Some of us lost it for several weeks. And the humidity and head that followed the hurricane was unbearable without any fans or breeze coming in through the windows.

The ants also invaded and turned out floor black - there were so many of them.

Hurricanes always seem exciting when you are expecting them but they are usually a let down when they hit and afterwards - you realise they are really annoying!